Deserve This
by blurrygraylines
Summary: Did he deserve this? He thought he did. He thought if it as a way to make up for all his lies. The Man said he deserved it. And the man only said the truth. Warning: Child abuse, but nothing detailed.


**AN: I was watching the scene in Shadows in the Glass, from the show Daredevil, the part where Bill Fisk was hitting his wife, and I felt inspired to write this. I felt so horrible, and I really feel sympathy for the people that have to go through that every day. This story is for those people who live in homes that come from hell.**

Deserve This

Did he deserve this? Did he really do anything that needed punishment? Lash after lash, punch after punch, hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year? But he did. The Man said he did. And Wally believed him. Wally believed every word. After all, why would he lie?

"Worthless! You never do anything you should! You disappoint me and your mother! You don't deserve to live!"

Wally never called that man his father. He didn't deserve to be called a father. He did deserve to be called a bringer of truth. But who was Wally to determine the truth? He wasn't an honest man like the Man. The Man only gave the cold hard truth. Wally only told lies. To everyone. To Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris. To Robin. To the team. To the league. To his teachers at school. To anyone who actually wanted to help him. Because that's who Wally West was. A liar. That's why he deserved what the Man did to him. Wally thought of it as a way to make up for all his lies.

"You deserve this! You deserve the pain! Face it like a real man!"

It started before Wally got his powers. But even then, Wally still told lies. He lied to his parents. He said that he wouldn't be useless. But, no matter how many times he promised, he still was. He was just a waste of money and space. He wasn't smart, no matter how many times his teachers complimented him on math and science. He didn't have a good job, and couldn't get anywhere by himself like a good 15 year old should. And that was the truth. The Man only said the truth.

"You're useless! You are USELESS!"

And with that one came a slap. With others came a punch, or a kick, or a punch _and_ a kick. One time, he came home with a comment on his report card that said ' _Can not sit still. Sometimes a distraction to other student's learning'_ That one earned the belt. Only the worst earned the belt. But lately the worse was becoming easier to achieve. The worst was not making his bed, or eating without permission. The worst was coming more often, and it was getting harder to hide the marks from his teachers and the team. Especially Robin.

"You don't have any friends. They think you're useless. They're ashamed to even know you,"

Robin was a bat, so that wasn't surprising. He could always tell when something wasn't right. Unfortunately for Wally, that Bat Sense was sharper around Wally because Robin knew him better than a stranger. Fortunately, Wally had been lying to Robin since they met, so Robin really didn't know Wally as good as he thought. But lying was bad. The Man had etched that into Wally's mind a long time ago. Though, Wally still lied. That's another reason that he deserved it.

0o0

 **RECOGNIZED: KID FLASH B-O-3**

I walked into the cave limping. I suffered a particularly vicious beating today and I hadn't even healed one bit because the Man had shoved me into the basement without food before forcing me to go to the cave. It was now about 5:00 at night, roughly 11 hours spent in the basement trying to ignore the pain from the beating.

"Hey Wally, you up for a sparring match?" Robin asked. I winced. I really only came to cave for food, well, and because the Man made me, but that doesn't matter right now. Right now, the only thing that mattered was the food in the kitchen. The Man starved me so often, the only consistent source of food I had was the cave's. The Man had realized that after I got my powers I could take more, and that I needed even more food than usual. So, he made the marks last longer by starving me so that I couldn't heal.

"Sorry bro, not enough juice. I need to eat before I can do anything," Robin frowned at me, but I didn't care. I was too focused on my quest for food.

"Well, okay. Come and get me when you can. I'm bored," Robin said. I just nodded at him, completely forgetting to act normal. Though, at this point, I don't know what normal is anymore.

As I limped over to the kitchen, I didn't notice Robin's concerned stare on my back.

 **Robin's POV**

I could tell something was up with Wally. And it wasn't just my Bat intuition. I knew Wally well enough to know when something's not right. And now something was definitely not right. I watched Wally limp into the kitchen. That's weird. We didn't have a mission last night, or the night before that. Two days should have been plenty of time for any of Wally's injuries to heal.

In the kitchen, Wally was stuffing his face even faster and messier than usual. I squinted at him. I could see that he had a limp, and that he favored his right side over his left. That could signify broken or damaged ribs. He also looked really skinny, like he hadn't eaten in hours, maybe even days. Knowing Wally, he ate every two to three hours, so this couldn't be good.

"Hey Wally, are you alright? You don't look so good," I asked him. Wally stiffened, and turned around to face me. Now that I could see his face clearly, as he didn't look at me earlier, I could see a dark, handprint shaped bruise of his face. I gasped, and reached out to him. He flinched away from my hand, suddenly looking like a kicked puppy.

"Wally, who did this to you?" I asked him, shocked that someone would do this to Wally. I didn't think anyone would be so angry at him to hurt him like that. I mean sure, Wally was somewhat annoying, but he wasn't the so-annoying-people-would-slap-him kind. He was more like the annoying-and-aggravating-kind-of-annoying-but-you-could-tell-he-has-a-good-heart kind.

He looked away and didn't say anything.

"Please, Wally. Tell me! Who did this to you?" He looked at me, and I was a little surprised to see the tears welling in his eyes. But his next words shocked the surprise out of me and replaced it with anger and protectiveness I didn't even know I had.

"My dad… My dad did this to me,"

 **Wally's POV**

I don't know what came over me. After I confessed to Robin I just burst into tears. I expected Robin to shove me away for being weak, or say 'I'm ashamed to even know you', but instead he pulled me close to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. I started sobbing into Robin's shoulder, and Robin tangled his hands in my hair and whispered comforting things in my ears.

"I'm useless. He said it. I'm just a useless waste of space," I sobbed through my tears, "Nobody wants me, I would be better off dead. You already have a Flash, nobody needs a slower one. I deserve this," Robin tightened his hold on me and said like he really meant it,

"NO, Wally. You're _not_ useless. We need you, _I_ need you. And you don't deserve this. It isn't human. Whatever you think you did to deserve this, it's a lie. A lie a sick, twisted man told you," Robin said.

But that couldn't be true. The Man only told the truth. Only the truth, nothing else. But then again, I didn't know anyone else who's parents beat them everyday for not waking up early and being downstairs with the whole house cleaned by 7:00 in the morning. But I didn't say any of that. I continued crying onto Robin's shoulder.

"Really Wally, you don't deserve this. If anything, it's your dad who deserves it. Batman doesn't do that to me, Uncle Barry doesn't do that to you and he's like another father to you. It's only that sick, twisted man who's fault it is. It's not yours. It's his. He should have no excuse to beat a frightened 15 year old for things that had no reason for punishment. It's not your fault," Robin said.

And this time, I believed him.

 **AN: Remember, it's never your fault. You** _ **don't**_ **deserve it. Don't let those parents, or whoever, tell you you're worthless, because you're** _ **not**_ **. I have some ideas for a sequel. Should I? Please review and tell me what you think!**


End file.
